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Nostalgic?

Welcome

italy

Greetings pretty girl. Lately, my writings have started to get some recognition. I went for a trip to a beautiful place and my mates asked me to lay down the experience in words. I have found that I bleed words best when I bleed for you, so bear with me while I tell you how Venezia was like. I wish your eyes too could behold what mine did. I’m sure that that brownish tint would have lit up seeing everything.

A bit of history before we take a walk. Venice (or Venezia in Italian) is a port city and one of the main trading centers of early Italy (early like 9-12th century early). The city is actually group of islands (117) on a lagoon bearding the Adriatic sea. The city (or islands) is connected via bridges and waterways. It was once (and still is) a flourishing trade center and one of the most important trading destinations as in those times, sea was the only way of trading between countries. Being in the Adriatic sea, Venice was always in close touch with Byzantine and Muslim Empires. At the apex of its wealth and power, Venice boasted of 3500 ships with around 40,000 sailors. The city since then has become one of the most beautiful tourist destinations and also a commercial hub for modern Italy.

Wikipedia has more history for perusal if you care to take a look. We started from the main train station (yes, Venezia has a train station) and went first to the Lido Beach. It is on the opposite end of the main city and is mostly meant for private leisure. You can see the Mediterranean sea from there. It takes not much except a deep breathe to give up your heart to the sea. We had not much day time as it was a one-day tour and since we were there early, the place was just booting up. Also, I think not that I’ll ever get to “leisure privately” so we left for the main city.

The Mediterranean.

Water ways substitute roads here. The whole city is connected via canals and bridges. All the canals originate from the Grand Canal. Since there are no roads, we had to take what they call water buses. The buses run along the Grand Canal and sojourn at stops where you can board or get down. It is not-that-costly to go around. You can get a 24-hour bus pass for 20 Euros and get on any bus from any where. We boarded a bus from Lido Beach to Rialto Bridge where we got off and started to tread.

Grand Canal and one of the sub canals

The Rialto bridge was made in late 11th century and was made entirely out of wood. The bridge suffered heavy maintenance losses and several fatalities before it was resurrected as a stone bridge. It stands to this day and the market adjacent to the bridge is as old as the bridge itself. Old eateries and pizzerias still cater to our food fetishes and we had a chance to have an authentic Italian pizza. I know you love to devour good food and trust me we would have eaten 5 each of those slices without wincing. A splendid view of the Grand Canal is what you see atop the bridge and such is the splendor that it will be etched in your memory forever.

View atop the Rialto Bridge. Rialto Market to the left.

We started to tread then. Oh how we got lost! There are narrow streets all through each island and each street along with old Gothic structures scream of the history. You’d think that you’re in a Gothic hopelessly romantic book while roaming these streets (you love that… don’t deny!). Blended with latest fashion houses such as Prada and Promod, the architecture and the feel is like rich old wine in striking new bottle. Only I wish I could have your cordial smile for company!

The streets took us to the Piazza San Marco, the main public center of Venezia. It hosts the magnificent Basilica of San Marco. It is huge and ornate and you can see mosaics depicting godliness of Christ amongst other brilliant sculptures and of course a breathtaking view of the lagoon. The history of the Basilica is something I cannot elucidate here lest the blog becomes too tiring for you. The planning, designing and construction of the whole plaza makes you ponder over how they did it. Imagining such a structure on such a type of land is itself a challenging task let alone the artistry.

We roamed around in the streets some more quaffing each sight that the city had to offer. You tend to travel more into history the deeper you wander. We took several wrong turns and ended up sitting near the steps of some sub canal enjoying the fact that we were in Venice. It didn’t matter because the moment had us all euphoric and there were pretty girls every where *shameless smile*.

There were flea markets and shopping areas too where you can buy some memorabilia at well… not-so-cheap price. It’s a tourist spot, the hawkers WILL rip off tourists and when you’re paying in euros, it pains… really pains. But nonetheless, the memories we took back is what none can take from us.

We started walking back towards the train station where the tour group had to assemble before departure. The evening was awesome and you can imagine such a city at dusk with lights reflecting off of the water and the magic of the night descending upon us. Oh you’d have fallen in love with this place and I’d have been gaping at you trying to contain that lit face with the awesome sights this city has.